Ashes To Embers
by lg6884
Summary: Although Flame Princess no longer has any interest in dating him, she'd still like to stay friends with Finn. But what happens when she receives a call from Finn saying he can never see her again? You'll just have to read to find out. This is my' first try at a romance, I hope you at least enjoy it.
1. The Call

"Who's next?" The king of the Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess called out to the large line of her happily awaiting subjects from atop her throne. But before the next citizen could step forward, a guard approached her' throne. Carrying a telephone.

"It's for you your highness." The guard said, patiently awaiting for her to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Flame Princess said, not entirely sure who could be calling her.

"Hey FP..." Flame Princess heard Finn's voice say, sounding a little nervous.

Flame Princess was actually happy to hear Finn's voice, she had recently invited him over to attend her birthday party. She still had no interest in dating him anymore, but Flame Princess did still consider Finn & Jake good friends. So she'd periodically invite the two of them over. They rarely ever made it, usually notifying her why either before the party or the next day. She'd still however have a plate at her' royal table set for them just in case. The most recent reason they couldn't attend however never left her' mind. Before her last dinner party, Jake called to say that he and Finn wouldn't be able to make it because they were looking for Finn's father... Ever since then, she's been throwing parties at least once a week so she could invite them over and possibly learn what he is like; an honest man with a kind heart like Finn, for the most part, or if he was just brave and adventurous. Wondering what Finn's father is like constantly caused Flame Princess to seem off task, except when dealing with her people.

"Hey Finn." Flame Princess said with a smile, because hearing Finn's voice usually meant she'd get to see them.

...

There was a long silence, almost as if Finn had put down the phone and left.

"Finn?" Flame Princess said into the phone.

"Sorry... I dropped the phone." Flame Princess heard Finn's voice finally say.

"It's nice hearing from you again." Flame Princess said in a sincere voice.

This isn't gonna be easy... Finn said to himself.

"I'm not gonna be able to make it to your' party." Finn said.

"Oh." Flame Princess said, feeling saddened to hear Finn say this.

"It's okay, maybe next time?" Flame Princess said, her' tone normalizing as she spoke.

"I... I can't." Finn said, his voice carrying a mournful tone.

"Why not?" Flame Princess asked, feeling as if she can't simply let their conversation end on that.

"Because, I can never see you again." Finn said, his tone void of any emotion.

"What? Why?" Flame Princess asked, her hair starting to grow and shake.

"Because I can't visit you anymore" Finn said in a rushed voice.

"Because..." Flame Princess said immediately.

"Because I'm keeping a secret from you!" Finn said, again in a rushed tone.

"I still love you..." Finn said as Flame Princess heard Finn hang up.

"Finn?!" Flame Princess said repeatedly.

Flame Princess soon realized how large and violent her hair had grown, from her stressful conversation, and took a deep, calming breath.

"I'm fine, my ex boyfriend just told me he still loves me. And that he can't see me anymore. Also that he's keeping a secret from me." Flame Princess, showing that she's as honest to her people as they are to her, said to the room.

Her people were silent, they understood that experiencing something like that can be off putting, especially for one with her responsibilities.

"Who's next?" Flame Princess said with a reassuring smile as her hair returned to normal.

The guard quietly walked away as the next person approached her' throne.

After her' phone call, Flame Princesses' day went about as it usually did. She helped as many people as she could, took a long bath in a volcano, and then got dressed for bed. But she soon realized that she was about to be late for her' own birthday party, got out of bed, (silently apologizing to the maid under her breath) got out of her pajamas, and put on her party gown. As soon as she made sure she was fully dressed, Flame Princess hurried to the ballroom. To her surprise, waiting for her outside was none other than her' most trusted friend and knight: Cinnamonbun.

"Er you okay Flame Princess?" Cinnamonbun asked.

"I'm not too sure Cinnamonbun." Flame Princess, refusing to lie to him of all people, admitted.

"It's Finn again, isn't it?" Cinnamonbun, knowing Flame Princess, asked.

"He said he can never see me again and that he loves me. But before I could say anything, he hung up. It made me feel weird." Flame Princess confided to Cinnamonbun.

"I've never had boyfriend trouble before. But when Finn was younger, he had a crush on Princess Bubblegum. Whenever he was around her, Finn felt _weird_." Cinnamonbun informed Flame Princess.

"Finn had a crush on _her_? Wow." Flame Princess thought aloud.

"But I don't have a crush on him, I feel like he might need my help." Flame Princess explained.

"Finn's Finn, he'll be fine." Cinnamonbun assured Flame Princess.

"I don't know CB, he sounded really sad and last week Jake said something about Finn finding his father." Flame Princess continued to explain.

"They found Finn's father? That's great. What's he like?" Cinnamonbun asked, showing some interest in Finn's father.

"I don't know, he never told me." Flame Princess said.

"Attention party goers, the King has arrived!" one of the guards called from inside the ballroom.

"I have to go, but we'll talk more later." Flame Princess said before she finally attended her party.

It was after seeing Cinnamonbun disappear behind the waves of her citizens that Flame Princess came to an uneasy conclusion, that she'll need to confront Finn. Even if it meant resorting to a meeting with the monarch of the Candy Kingdom and the one who advised that her dad to lock her up: Princess Bubblegum.

After about an hour or so, Flame Princess was already starting to grow bored with this party. None of the citizens felt worth enough to actually have a conversation with her, so all she really did was watch other people have fun. Until she noticed a blue tinted figure dancing among her people. It wasn't Cinnamonbun, who was never that into parties in the Fire Kingdom, so there weren't many possibilities for whom it might be.

With her curiosity in overdrive, Flame Princess carefully made her way over to her unknown guest. Stealthily slipping in between her subjects. To Flame Princesses' surprise, it was a flame shielded Jake The Dog.

"Jake?" Flame Princess said in a confused voice.

"Hey Flame Princess, happy birthday girl." Jake said, happily grinning as he continued to dance.

"Thanks, it's good seeing you again." Flame Princess said, sporting a weak smile as she said it.

"Everything alright, you seem a little off." Jake, still dancing, said showing some concern on his face.

"I don't know. Ever since Finn called earlier, I've been feeling worried. Is he alright?" Flame Princess confined to Jake.

"Finn's fine. But he lost an arm because of his lousy dad." Jake, fuming at the thought of Martin said.

"He what!" Flame Princess exclaimed, her emotions getting the better of her as she grew ten times her normal size.

Realizing she was making a scene, Flame Princess refrained to her' normal stature.

"I have something important to take care of, Cinnamonbun's in charge until I get back." Flame Princess announced.

"Jake I need you to take me to Finn, now." Flame Princess said as she gripped the magic dog's shoulders.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**This'll be the first romance story I've ever written. It's a little nerve racking. I can't wait for the big reveal. I hope it won't take me forever to get to it.**


	2. The Present & The Dream

"I'm sorry princess, but I can't do that. I can't risk you hurting him." Jake said, backing out of Flame Princesses grip.

"So you're telling me... the ruler of the Fire Kingdom no?" Flame Princess said, using a tone that told Jake that he _will_ take her to Finn. Causing the entire party to pause.

"I'm sorry, but this is one thing where you're not gonna change my mind." Jake said, not fazed by Flame Princesses tone. Making the party goers grow more concerned.

"Jake you know I still consider you a friend, right?" Flame Princess asked.

"Mmhmm mmhmm, me too mmhmm." Jake said.

"And you know that in my kingdom secrets are against the law, right? Flame Princess said in a leading voice.

"Yes." Jake replied, a little ignorant to the point Flame Princess was trying to make.

"So I'm not gonna have my guards arrest you, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave as a warning." Flame Princess, politely, said.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave..." Jake said as he stretched his right leg out the door, causing the party to slowly continue. Acting like nothing happened, that Flame Princess cared how they'd react.

"After I give you this." Jake said as he handed a flame shielded piece of paper with a ribbon wrapped around it.

Before Flame Princess could say another word, Jake stretched his way out of the ballroom. Confused, Flame Princess decided to wait until after the party before she'd open it. She decided this so she could talk to Cinnamonbun about whatever was written on it. The party raved on until the entire Land of Ooo was silent (around 3:00 A.M.) After the last of the guests left, Flame Princess met with a patiently waiting Cinnamonbun just outside the ballroom.

"Did you have fun?" Cinnamon asked.

"Yeah it was nice." Flame Princess said with a weak smile.

"What's wrong, still thinking about what Finn said?" Cinnamonbun asked.

"It's not just that." Flame Princess confessed.

"Does it involve Jake?" Cinnamonbun guessed.

"How'd you know?" Flame Princess, moderately impressed, asked.

"I saw him when he came in." Cinnamonbun said with a pause.

"And when he stretched out." Cinnamonbun added.

"He told me I can never see Finn again and then he gave me this." Flame Princess said as she held out the paper, which unbeknownst to her slowly began to burn from a slowly fizzling flame shield...

"Wah!" Flame Princess screeched as the flame shield wore off completely and the paper quickly began to become engulfed in flames.

"I'll read it." Cinnamonbun said as he quickly grabbed the burning paper.

_"Dear Flame Princess,_

_I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person, but I'd like to wish you a very happy birthday. I wish I could've been there. Even if you're not into me, I still want you to know I love you._

_Love Finn_

_Ps. Here's one of the flowers you accidentally burned the first time we met. It reminds me of you because I think you're a cute little flower."_

Cinnamonbun read aloud as the flower fell to the floor and the note quickly became a pile of ashes and glowing embers.

"Oh no!" Flame Princess said as she quickly reached for the slowly burning flower, only for her hand to be stopped by Cinnamonbun.

Without saying another word, Cinnamon quickly grabbed the flower and shoved it into his mouth. Causing Flame Princess mild discomfort until Cinnamonbun opened his mouth with a thumbs up, revealing the flowers flames were now extinguished. After seeing all this, Flame Princess let out a sigh of relief. But after the sigh, Flame Princess had another frown on her face. Not one of stress, but of confusion.

"Is everything alright?" Cinnamonbunn asked, his speech slurred because of the flower.

"No. I thought I was over him, but now all I can think of is Finn." Flame Princess said in a defeated voice, remembering the times she shared with Finn. Good and bad.

"Then you should go see him." Cinnamonbun said, still housing the flower in his mouth.

"But Finn and Jake both told me I can't." Flame Princess, wanting to honor their' wishes said.

"Besides, I've got too many responsibilities to just leave." Flame Princess said, keeping what's best for her people in mind over her wants and needs.

"Isn't one of them making sure everyone's happy?" Cinnamonbun asked, his words sounding clear despite the roof of his mouth being tickled.

"Of course." Flame Princess said.

"Then shouldn't you try making your self happy?" Cinnamonbun, cunningly, asked with the flower's stem sliding around his tongue.

Flame Princess was at a loss of words, Cinnamonbun was right. She continuously debated whether or not she should go. She knew that everything would be alright with Cinnamonbun in charge for a day. But, giving the circumstances, she couldn't tell if it was the right thing to do. It wasn't soon after that the pair decided to turn into their rooms for the night.

In her dream, Flame Princess saw Finn's unmistakable figure silhouetted in a large grassy plain at night. She could hear him delightfully chuckling and laughing happily. Like when they dated. But before she could walk over to him, she saw a shadowy figure approach him. The figure appeared to be one that belonged to a female, with particularly long hair. Flame Princess was confused as the figure and Finn, who was a little shorter, seemed to stare at each other. But that confusion soon turned to jealousy as the figure grabbed Finn's left hand, his right of course missing, and began slowly moving it down to her hip. Flame Princesses jealousy soon grew even more as she saw Finn and the girl slowly begin to dance. Flame Princess began to angrily shout at the two, but all she heard come out of her mouth was "Wah wah wah." As Finn and the figure stopped dancing, Flame Princesses temper began to die down. Until she saw Finn and the figure begin locking lips. This caused Flame Princess to finally loose control and launch fireballs at the girl. But what happened instead was, instead of the girl, every one of the fireballs hit Finn! Finn let out a loud agonizing scream as he quickly turned to Flame Princes, slowly becoming engulfed in the flames. The last thing Flame Princess heard before she woke up, her chest repeatedly retracting from the fear, was Finn and Jake's voices saying "We told you to stay away."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well that got dark really fast...

Does Flame Princesses dream mean she should stay away from Finn, or to hurry up before it's too late? Is she really over Finn? And why can't she ever see Finn again?

Hopefully we'll find out soon. Thank you all for the support and I hope you guys like this story enough to stick with it. Feel free to check out mine or one of my friends stories. I hope you've liked this story so far. Especially since this is my first _real_ romance.


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